Stefanie: Cancer behind life story

Stefanie Powers says being diagnosed with lung cancer prompted her to write her memoirs.

“There were two life-changing events that occurred that precipitated the writing of this book,” the Hart To Hart star explained in Los Angeles.

“One was the death of my mother with whom I was exceptionally close and who shared a house with me here.

“The other was my own discovery of lung cancer and the treatment for it,” the 68-year-old revealed.

She went on: “During the recovery from both of those events it was time to reflect and as I read my mothers diaries and looked at all the things she said, I thought it would be appropriate as a kind of catharsis and in honour of her to talk about what it was like growing up here and some of the adventures it was possible to have at another time.”

The actress teased how readers will be in for a few surprises.

“Lots, but I can’t tell you that, you’ll have to read it,” she laughed.

“It’ll be out in England this coming year, it was a cathartic process and one that was quite daunting. I thought it was easier in the beginning than it was in the middle and the end,” she said.